Tire-chain-hook pliers



Nov. 17,1925 ,561,501

R. R. ALBRIGHT TIRE can" HOOK PLIERS Filed July 10, 1922 Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT R. ALBRIGHT, F YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED STATES CHAIN & FORGING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

Application filed July 10, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnirr R. Atnnicirr, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tire-Chain- Hook Pliers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to showing its use in connection with the open-,

ing of a chain attaching hook.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view.

Fig. t is a perspective view of the pliers showing particularly the action of the nipper action wedges.

The pliers consists of two arms and 11 secured together by a pivot bolt such as 12 which bolt is provided, as customary in this art, with a small washer 1 1: and a nut 15 the bolt being upset against the nut in order to prevent accidental removal of the nut in use. On one side of the pivot each arm has a relatively long handle 16 and on the other side of the pivot the arms form jaws 17 and 18 which are bent as at 19 and 20 to form longitudinally bent tips 20 and 21 from which project laterally the wedge members 22 and 23.

The inner face 2-): of the wedge 23 is concave and the corresponding cooperating face 25 of the wedge 22 is convex, these two surfaces preferably being spherical, the center of curvature of these two faces lying in the axis of the pivotal movement of the arms in order that the sharp edges 27 and 28 of the wedges may each slide snugly along the cooperating face of the opposite jaw. The overlapping faces of the two jaws are substantially plane, the closing movement of the jaws being limited only by the handles coming in contact with one another. This is the preferred construction as it insures t e Widest Portions 0f the We o p in 'rran-cnnm-noox PLIERS.

Serial No. 574,062.

wedges 22 being brought in between the portions of the link to be separated. In addition to the advantage of the spherical faces of the wedges permitting the wedges to slide snugly along one another, this curvature of said wedges also has a tendency to facilitate wedging or forcing a link open even when a slight looseness of the handles on the pivot pin occurs. If the faces were plane and the handles should become loose on the pivot the faces would be spread apart throughout their depth or width to the full extent of play allowed the handles on the pivot. Another advantage is that the wedges do not have to be placed parallel to the side bars of the link. The wedges are forced between the terminals of the link and the side bars so that the terminals of the linkengage a comparatively small area on the surface of the wedges and by having the wedges curved any portion of the edges of the wedges may be placed in position to be engaged by the terminals of the link, whereas if the wedges were straight and fiat it would be necessary to have such straight flat faces positioned parallel to the side bars of the link.

As best seen in Fig. 4 the wedges are tapered to a sharp edge, the curved surface 30 of each wedge preferably making an angle of about or less with the substantially flat, although preferably actually spherical, face 24 of the wedge. The edges 27 and 28 are each straight in plan and form right angles with the outer surfaces 32 and 38 of the wedge ends and each edgelies in a plane which contains the axis of the pliers so that the lapping wedges act with a nipper action in contradistinction to the scissor action which would be had if the edges 27 and 28 were inclined from the heel to the toe as is common in earlier types of tools of this nature.

Each of the arms is formed from flat sheet steel in order to lower the cost of manufacture and is provided with an enlarged portion having the pivot opening as its center to insure ample contact surface to secure accuracy of action of the pliers. Each arm is provided with a compression face or jaw such as 35 each of which is preferably inclined as shown in Fig. 3 and the compression jaw 36 preferably being bulged out to provide a bearing for the parallel bars of the cross chain h Qk Whil? e Oth P ti n i the pliers presses the prongs of the hook into a closed position.

The longitudinal bending of the ends of the arms is designed primarily to enable the user to get the edges of the wedge shaped members of the pliers against and under the points of the cross chain hooks either while the tire chain is lying on the floor or on a bench, or while it is on the wheel itself, the great advantage being in the convenience of operation, the users knuckles being entirely free from danger of striking the floor or ground since the angle between the wedge and the handle portion .of the arm is approximately 150 giving an angle of or more between the arms of the pliers and the floor.

What I claim is:

1. A chain tool adapted for use in opening chain tire grips of the type wherein two arms are vpivotedtogether to form handles on one side of the pivot and wedges being equi-distantly spaced from the pivot and on the other side of said pivot, characterized by the wedges having substantially spherical engaging faces, adapted to overlap each other, one of said faces being concave and theother convex.

2. A chain tool adapted for use, in opening and closing chain tire grips of the type wherein two arms are pivoted together to form handles on one side of the pivot and jaws and wedges on the other side of said i ot, characterized by the Wedges having cooperating faces adapted to overlap each other, one of which .isconcave. and the other convex, said arms being bent to an obtuse angle between the jaws and the wedges whereby the ends of the handlesvof the tool will be located at a point remote from the Work. j

3. A chain tool adapted for use in open ing and closing tire grips of the type wherein two arms are pivoted together to form handles on one side of the pivot, and compression link closing jaws and opening Wedges on the other side of said pivot adapted to overlap each other characterized by the arms being bent to an obtuse angle between the jaws and the wedges whereby the ends of thehandles of the tool will be located at apoint remote from the work, said wedges having their engaging faces SHlJSlHL tially spherical, the edges of said wedges when in contact with one another lying in the same plane as the axis of the arms.

4. A chain tool adapted for use in opening and closing tire grips of the type wherein two arms are pivoted together to form handles on one side of the pivot, and compression jaws and opening wedges on the other side of said pivot characterized by the arms being bent to an obtuse-angle between the jaws and the wedges, said wedges being lapping and having their cooperating faces substantially spherical, the edges of said wedges when in contact with one another lymg in the same plane as the axis of the arms,

and one of said jaws being bulged to engage the parallel bars of the tire chain hook while the-prongs of said hook are being pressed to closed position.

5. A chain link opening tool of the type employing a. pair of pivoted members each carrying a sharp edged element of a wedging means, characterized by the edges of said wedge elements lying in substantially the same plane as the pivot of said members, the adjacent faces of the wedge elements being substantially spherical and adapted to overlapeach other when the tool is closed. ROBERT E. ALBRIGHT. 

